South
East Asian countries have witnessed unprecedented development of Muslim
NGOs working on humanitarian and relief projects. A series of natural
calamities and communal conflicts taking place in some regions in
Southeast Asia have appealed Muslim relief NGOs to deliver aid for the
victims. Tsunami disaster in Aceh, devastating earthquake in Sumatra,
Muslim-Christian conflicts in Moluccas, large-scale military operations
in East Timor[ICRC1] , Buddhist-Muslim tension in Rahkine state in
Myanmar, clashes between the government and the politically-oriented
Muslim movements in Mindanao and Southern Thailand are instances where
natural and man-made disasters have witnessed the intervention of many
Muslim relief NGOs in Southeast Asia..

Charity in Islam
has been regulated since the very beginning of the revelation. Until
recently however it belonged to the realm of social practice, or
state-sponsored institutions, in Muslim societies. The proliferation of
NGOs combining the rich heritage of Islamic ethics with recent
organizational techniques has brought this tradition into the field of
modern international humanitarian work both at a very practical level by
rubbing shoulders with colleagues from other organizations in the
field, and also at a discursive level in asserting the legitimacy of its
principles. But rigorous studies on the notions of Islamic
humanitarianism reflecting the South East Asian perspective and
experience, its relation with positive law, national and international,
its applicability, remain rare and are sorely needed. This workshop will
investigate some key concepts, both normatively and practically, of
humanitarianism and humanitarian law in an Islamic and Asian
Perspective.

In particular, this workshop is interested in exploring the following themes:

[ICRC2] How have the Islamic concepts of humanitarian law (fiqh al-siyar)
and the ethics of [ICRC3] war and jihad been conceived in classical
Islamic literature, and how do Muslim societies, represented by Islamic
scholars and social activists in Southeast Asia interpret and in turn
materialize those key concepts in their humanitarian actions?

In
the scope covered by international humanitarian law, how do Islamic
teachings talk about conflict, conflict resolution, the idea of peace,
and public interest (maslahah)? [ICRC4]

According to
"Islamic Humanitarian Principles" as formulated by NGOs how is the
category of victims conceptualized and what are the rights of
underprivileged groups (refugees, non-combatants, prisoners, women and
children) in disaster affected spots?

How do Muslim NGOs define dakwah
and humanitarian actions, discern the relationships between Islam and
the West, and universalize their humanitarian principles, both
discursively and practically?

We cordially invite
contributors (academia, NGO activists, religious leaders, policy makers)
in Southeast Asia to participate in this two-day workshop, and we
welcome papers exploring one of the listed sub-themes above. Selected
papers from the workshop will be compiled for an edited volume.

Submission of Proposal
Proposals,
written in Bahasa Indonesia or English, consisting of a title, 300
words abstract, and a brief personal biography, can be submitted to
Hilman Latief, Ph.D. (hilman.latief@gmail.com) and Zezen Zainal Mutaqin,
LLM (zmutaqin@icrc.org) by 30 March 2013. Successful applicants will be notified by 15 April March 2013 and will be required to send a paper (5,000-7,000 words) by 1 June 2013.

Note: Travel and accommodation support for successful applicants will be provided by the Organizing Committee.

The
workshop is organized and co-sponsored by The Graduate
Program-Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY) and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)-Jakarta.